Mistletoe
by Still My Heart
Summary: Christmas at the Burrow leads to the healing of two hearts. Written for the Winter 2006 round of the SeverusHermione Gift Exchange on Livejournal.


A/N: Okay, I'm well aware that it is no longer Christmas. However, I forgot to post this when I could and only just now remembered it. It was written for the Winter 2006 round of the Severus Snape/Hermione Granger Gift Exchange on Livejournal and I didn't feel like waiting until this Christmas to post it... eh heh. Anywho, this is just a fluffy little Christmas ficlet. Hope y'all like it, even if it is off season. Hee.

* * *

Hermione Granger sat staring into the fire, alone in her thoughts for a rare moment; any minute of relative quiet in the house was to be savored. 

At the present time, the Burrow was full of people, all staying with the Weasleys for Christmas. The start of the war had brought massive changes in the Ministry and as a result, Mr. Weasley was promoted to the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and received a significant pay raise. Due to this unexpected surprise the Weasleys were able to expand their home considerably and it was now large enough to house all nine Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Bill's wife Fleur, Charlie's wife Bridgette, Fred's fiancé Angelina Johnson, Remus Lupin, and, of all people, Severus Snape.

Hermione's reverie was broken as Ginny appeared in front of her, a baby on her hip.

"Hermione, could you watch Emily for a few minutes? Mum and Dad are having issues with some Christmas decorations."

Hermione smiled and took the baby from Ginny, who, with a grin, disappeared the way she'd come.

Emily smiled happily as Hermione bounced her a little on her knee. Emily had inherited her mother's red hair and her father Harry's green eyes and Hermione knew she'd be beautiful when she got older.

As Hermione played with the baby a dark shape entered the room; Hermione glanced up to see Severus Snape settle into a chair in the corner, staring intently at a piece of parchment in his hand.

She watched him surreptitiously and then jumped as she heard her name spoken.

"Hermione, we need your help. Dad keeps wanting to put the decorations up without magic and Mum thinks he's about to hurt himself."

Hermione grinned and stood; Ginny leaned towards Hermione.

"Give Em to Professor Snape. Mum says we should involve him more," she whispered.

Hermione nodded and walked over to Severus.

"Excuse me, Professor, but could you hold the baby for a little while?"

Severus looked up, startled. He looked from Hermione to Emily and then back to Hermione.

"I don't think-"

"It's okay, you shouldn't have any problems. We won't be long."

"Well, okay," Severus said reluctantly, setting down his parchment. Hermione bent, passing the baby to him, his hands brushing hers as he took hold of Emily; his eyes flicked up once more to Hermione and then he looked apprehensively at the baby.

"Just set her on your knee. Bounce her a bit and talk to her. We won't be long."

Severus nodded and Hermione turned, grinning at Ginny as they left the room.

They entered the dining room a moment later and Hermione could see why Mrs. Weasley was so concerned. A tall utility ladder stood propped against the wall. Unfortunately, in his enthusiasm to use the Muggle device he had unfolded the ladder incorrectly. With one foot on the bottom rung, Mr. Weasley was heading for disaster in the form of a twisted ankle, at the very least, in Hermione's reckoning. Hermione hurried forward, unable to keep herself from laughing as she corrected Mr. Weasley and assuaged Mrs. Weasley's fears.

She and Ginny helped decorate for a bit until the sound of a baby crying could be heard approaching the room. They looked up as Severus entered the room, holding a clearly upset Emily at arm's length.

"She just started crying," Severus said uncertainly. "I didn't do anything," he added quickly. "I think she's, er... wet."

Ginny smiled as she approached Severus.

"It's okay, nothing a quick diaper change won't fix." Ginny called over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs, "Hermione, can you help me?"

"Yeah." Hermione set down the garland she was holding and followed after Ginny, passing through the doorway at the same time as Severus.

"Wait!" Mrs. Weasley called. Hermione and Severus turned back to see Mrs. Weasley smiling pleasantly.

"Mistletoe," she said simply, pointing. Hermione and Severus looked up, at each other, and then at Mrs. Weasley.

"Go on. It's tradition!"

Hermione could feel her face growing hot as Severus leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. Hermione felt a slight fluttering in her stomach and tried to hide the fact that her breath had hitched in her throat.

As Severus straightened, Hermione could see the slightly pink tinge of his cheeks.

Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands delightedly. "Wonderful!" She sighed happily. "I love Christmas."

Hermione gave Severus a brief smile as she stepped out of the doorway and followed Ginny, who was now smirking, upstairs. She glanced back at Severus as he settled down in his chair, his fingers to his lips.

"You're so red," Ginny said, laughing as she and Hermione entered the room that Ginny, Harry, and Emily were occupying.

"Your mother planned that," Hermione said ruefully. Ginny laughed again.

"She did not. Well, okay. She put the mistletoe there, so it can be assumed that she expected someone to stand under it. But I don't think she expected it to be you two."

Ginny placed Emily on the changing table and began changing the baby's diaper; soon Emily was laughing again as Ginny made faces and spoke softly to her.

Hermione sat cross-legged on the bed and watched Ginny and Emily for a moment.

"Why is he here?" Hermione asked.

"Professor Snape? Mum ran into him at the Ministry one day when she was meeting Dad for lunch and somehow persuaded him to stay with us for Christmas. 'Nobody should be alone at Christmas,' she said."

Hermione, whose parents were killed in the war, understood and agreed with this. She was grateful for her own invitation to stay at the Burrow for the holidays.

Harry came in the room then, brushing snow from his shoulders and hair.

"Your mother sure is in a good mood, Gin," he said, stripping off his sweater and throwing it on the bed near Hermione.

"She got Hermione and Professor Snape to kiss under the mistletoe," Ginny explained, grinning.

Harry looked at Hermione, his eyebrows raised.

"It was just a kiss on the cheek," Hermione said defensively, turning red again. Harry and Ginny laughed and Hermione picked up Harry's sweater and threw it at Harry, laughing as well.

"Is everyone back?" Ginny asked after she and Harry kissed.

"Yeah, I think so. Molly said dinner would be soon," Harry replied, taking Emily from Ginny and kissing her forehead.

Ginny nodded and the four of them trooped back downstairs.

Fred and George swooped down on Hermione immediately to tease her and she ducked quickly from the room, looking for the safety of the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley, Fleur, Bridgette, and Angelina were gathered in the significantly warmer room, preparing dinner.

"I don't know what everyone is in such a tizzy about," Mrs. Weasley said, taking in Hermione once again red face. "It was just a little kiss under the mistletoe."

The women laughed.

"It's just a little strange is all," Angelina said, moving over so Hermione could help cut potatoes. "I mean, he was our teacher."

Mrs. Weasley waved a hand dismissively and Angelina grinned down at Hermione.

The teasing died down at dinner, mostly because nobody knew how Severus would handle it, but also because Mrs. Weasley was becoming concerned over the continual redness of Hermione's face.

Hermione stayed up late in the living room that night, watching the snow swirl around outside as the fire died down to embers.

She turned down the lights with her wand and went upstairs to her room sometime after midnight.

Instead of sleeping, however, she continued to watch the snow fall. She always grew depressed around Christmas now, ever since the war had begun. At first, during the war, fear ruled everyone's minds during the holiday, as Christmas was a time when entire families could be killed as they gathered together.

Then, after Hermione's parents were killed near the end of the war, all Hermione felt was depression as the holidays came around. All she could think of was her parents and all the other families that had been torn apart.

If it hadn't been for Harry and Ginny and Ron and the rest of Weasleys, Hermione would've spent every Christmas alone for the past five years.

Sighing, Hermione turned from the window and crawled into the warmth of her bed.

---------

She slept in late the next morning, missing most of breakfast; Mrs. Weasley and Bridgette were the only ones left at the table.

"There's still a bit left over, Hermione, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling gently at Hermione.

"Thanks," Hermione replied, returning the smile.

As Hermione made her plate, she listened to Mrs. Weasley and Bridgette's conversation.

"I just don't understand how they thought they could get away with it," Bridgette said with a note of incredulity in her voice.

"The war's only just over to some of these people. They think they can bring back the old way."

Hermione's hand tensed around her fork as she looked up.

"What's happened?"

"Oh, nothing," Mrs. Weasley said with a little sigh.

"A group of Voldemort supporters were found near London," Bridgette explained, her softly accented voice dulling the true meaning of these words. "Arthur, Charlie, and Bill have gone to handle it."

Bridgette smiled at Hermione. "Don't worry about it. Everything's fine."

Hermione relaxed a bit; she had always felt particularly close to Bridgette and she trusted her words now.

The conversation dwelled on the matter a little longer before moving on to lighter things.

As Hermione finished her breakfast, a voice sounded from the doorway.

"I'm going into the village, Molly," Severus said. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, thank you, Severus."

Hermione swallowed the last of her breakfast and looked at Severus as he turned to go.

"Sir, do you mind if I come with you?"

Severus gave a small shrug. "If you like."

"I'll be down in just a minute." Hermione swallowed the last of her juice and dashed upstairs, pulling a thick sweater on and slipping her boots onto her feet. She grabbed her purse and wand and headed back downstairs, where her cloak, scarf, hat and gloves were hanging by the door.

"Ready?" Severus asked, not impatiently. Hermione nodded and they stepped out into the cold air.

"I hope you don't mind walking," Severus said as they started towards the main road.

"Not at all. It's kind of refreshing."

Severus nodded and they lapsed into silence.

Hermione stared ahead, watching her breath plume out in front of her. The world was so quiet and still, almost with an air of relief, as if the very Earth could sense that one of the many conflicts on her surface had ended.

"Sir," Hermione began, "about yesterday and the mistletoe... I'm sorry if Molly made you feel obligated-"

"No," Severus interjected and Hermione glanced up at him. "It was... I didn't feel obligated."

Hermione looked at the ground to hide the flush in her cheeks.

"Miss Granger, I know I've never been particularly kind to you. But I want you to know that I never really disliked you. You understand why, I trust."

Hermione nodded. "It's alright. I mean, I do understand."

"I don't tell you this to earn your pity," Severus said quickly.

"I don't pity you," Hermione said softly. "All I'll give you is my friendship, if you want it. But never my pity."

Severus didn't respond and Hermione looked up at him. He was staring straight ahead, but Hermione thought she could detect a faint smile.

The rest of the morning and most of the afternoon was spent in the village.

Severus bought lunch and they talked, hesitantly at first, but they quickly fell into a rhythm of conversation.

They continued to talk on the way back to the Burrow, only stopping when they separated to go to their rooms and deposit their purchases.

Over the next two weeks as the Burrow became a flurry of Christmas activity, Hermione and Severus grew closer, becoming proper friends, talking at length all throughout the day and sometimes well into the night.

Hermione learned more about Severus in this short amount of time than she had in the almost twenty years she had known him.

As a result of Hermione's good listening ear and her receptiveness, Severus had begun to open up a bit more, knowing he had Hermione to back him up.

He still appeared sullen when he was alone, but was quick to react when spoken to and just about lit up when he saw Hermione.

Mrs. Weasley was practically glowing as she watched the relationship between Hermione and Severus grow and Hermione was on the receiving end of some good-natured ribbing from most of the Weasleys, except Percy, who had never been one to rib anybody.

Even with all this positive energy flowing about, Hermione could feel herself growing more and more depressed and closed off as Christmas came ever closer.

Severus noticed but wasn't nearly as adept at pulling people from melancholic moods as the others in the house, and on top of that, he wasn't sure if Hermione would want him questioning her about what was bothering her, so he stayed silent.

When Christmas Eve arrived, Hermione appeared withdrawn and far away. The others in the house knew why this was, but Severus, never having been this close to Hermione in either emotion or proximity, felt worried. But still he didn't know if it was his place to ask.

As the day drew on Hermione continued to seem sad, barely smiling as the household played games after dinner or as George grabbed Bridgette and twirled her around the room, causing the girl's fair Irish skin to turn nearly the same color as her hair as she laughed merrily.

Hermione did smile though as Remus, who was in a rather festive mood, made his way around the room with mistletoe in his hand, kissing the cheek of every female in the room, even Emily.

As Fred pretended to be jealous when Remus closed in on Angelina, Hermione excused herself and headed up to her room.

She changed for bed and busied herself with wrapping the rest of her presents, listening as the noise level died down downstairs and everyone went to bed.

Hermione tied her last ribbon and picked up the pile of presents to carry downstairs.

The lights on the tree blinked merrily as Hermione set her gifts among those already under the tree. She watched the lights twinkle for a moment before standing and walking to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water and drank it down, but found herself unable to go back upstairs to bed.

She used her wand to clean her glass and placed it back in the cupboard, then turned and opened the kitchen door, stepping out onto the snow dusted patio.

She pulled her robe tighter as a gust of wind hit her, blowing her hair around her face.

The air was almost bitterly cold but Hermione stayed where she was, feeling the wind curling around her body and the snow swirling around her feet, clad only in socks.

After a few minutes Hermione felt the presence of somebody standing behind her.

"You shouldn't be out here," Severus said quietly. "You'll freeze."

Hermione shrugged and Severus stepped up beside her.

"What's wrong?" he asked hesitantly.

Hermione sighed, shrugging again.

"It's the season is all. I just get to missing everyone around this time. My parents, all of my friends who died."

Severus looked over at Hermione, unsure of what to say. To his surprise, her eyes had begun to fill with tears.

"Hermione-"

"I'm sorry," she said, sniffling and wiping her cheeks with her fingers. "I don't even know why I'm crying. It's been five years since the war ended, seven since my parents died, and I'm standing here, a blubbering mess. It's just... everyone's used to me feeling like this and you're the first to listen to me in years."

Severus stood quietly, feeling a little awkward.

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand, closing her eyes briefly.

"Why is it still so hard?" she whispered. "Why do I still feel afraid sometimes? How is it still possible for them to have that kind of power over people, over me?"

Severus placed a hesitant hand on Hermione's shoulder and felt her lean into his touch.

"It happens to everyone," he said softly. "I'm sure there's someone else standing outside, crying in the snow like a-" Severus broke off, hearing the old derision in his voice. But Hermione just laughed and nodded.

"It is stupid to be out here in the snow in my pajamas, isn't it." Hermione took a breath and reached up to squeeze Severus's hand.

"Thanks," she said, turning to face him.

"For what?" Severus asked, surprised.

"For reminding me that I'm not the only person in the world who feels this way."

"Oh. You're welcome, then."

Hermione smiled. "Let's go inside, it's cold out here."

They stepped inside, stopping just on the other side of the threshold to close the door. Hermione looked up and laughed out loud. Severus followed her gaze.

"More of Molly's mistletoe. You would think she was trying-"

Severus silenced Hermione, pressing his lips to hers. The kiss surprised him almost as much as it did Hermione and he pulled away.

"I'm... er, sorry," he mumbled, turning to walk away. Hermione grabbed his arm and when he turned, he saw she was smiling.

"Don't apologize." Hermione reached up and pulled him down and kissed him again. His lips were surprisingly soft, his kiss gentle, his hand light on her cheek, and Hermione felt a flutter in her stomach.

She smiled again as Severus straightened.

"Do you think Molly intended this?" Hermione asked.

"Hard to say."

"Good night, Severus," Hermione said, stepping away and towards the stairs. Her smile was almost giddy and Severus had to admit he felt the same way.

"Good night, Hermione."

-----------

Hermione awoke the next morning and stared at the faint sunlight that was just beginning to brighten her room. The morning was still grey and Hermione knew the sun was only just beginning to rise.

Christmas was here, and for the first time, she felt happy as she thought about the day ahead. The kiss the night before seemed to have lifted away some of her perpetual sadness and now she looked forward to enjoying the day to its fullest extent.

Smiling, Hermione got out of bed, grabbing her robe and cinching it at her waist as she left the room. Mrs. Weasley was already in the kitchen, looking bleary-eyed but cheerful as she sipped at her coffee.

"You're up awfully early!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, clearly surprised.

"It's Christmas," Hermione replied simply as she poured herself a cup of coffee. Mrs. Weasley smiled.

"You seem to be in a much better mood than usual." Mrs. Weasley peered curiously at Hermione, who looked back innocently as she sipped her coffee.

Hermione was spared any questions as Ron entered the kitchen with George, closely followed by Fred and Angelina. They poured juice and coffee amongst themselves and all settled around the table.

"What do you think, breakfast or presents?" Mrs. Weasley asked, a smile touching her lips in anticipation of the answer.

"Presents, of course," George said promptly.

"In that case, go gather around the tree and give me some peace and quiet before the chaos begins."

Chairs scraped along the floor as they all stood and filtered from the room, chatting good-naturedly.

Hermione took up the rear, passing the staircase as Severus was coming down it. She smiled at him, pleased to see him, and he in turn gave something of a hesitant smile.

"We're going to the tree to get ready for presents," Hermione said. Severus nodded.

"I'll be there in a minute."

Still grinning, Hermione continued to the family room, settling on one of the couches, clutching her coffee mug between her hands.

Severus entered a few moments later and sat beside Hermione, their thighs touching as he settled. Hermione resisted the urge to lean against him, not wanting to have any unnecessary attention focused on them.

Before too long the rest of the household had settled around the Christmas tree and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave the okay for the gift giving to begin. Very soon the family room was a frenzy of wrapping paper and excited voices and Hermione found herself leaning against Severus anyway, watching as he unwrapped his gifts. None of them seemed terribly generalized, and Hermione was grateful for that. Everyone seemed to have put effort into making their gifts to Severus personal and fitting to his personality and character and he seemed quietly pleased.

A quick breakfast followed and soon afterward everyone had dressed and disbursed outside to enjoy the white Christmas.

Hermione hadn't been so happy at Christmas in years that everything seemed to be that much greater to her, and she sat outside for a while, watching the boys throw snowballs at each other and Harry and Ginny helping Emily make a snowman.

Severus came to her sometime after noon and she smiled up at him.

"Can I talk to you? In private?"

"Sure," Hermione said, standing and following Severus inside. He led her back to the family room, now deserted and empty of the morning mess.

"I just wanted to give you this," he said softly, pulling a wrapped square from his pocket. Hermione smiled curiously as she looked up at Severus.

"Just open it."

Hermione laughed softly as she tore off the paper and opened the box. She gasped when she saw what was inside and looked quickly up at Severus.

"Where did you find this?" Hermione asked, her voice quavering slightly.

"After the final battle. I saw it on the ground, but I didn't know it was yours until recently."

Hermione pulled the heart-shaped locket from the box, holding it by the chain so the pendant rested in her palm. Using her nail she opened up the locket and tears began to fall from her eyes. Photos of her mother and father were inserted in either side and she gazed at them lovingly.

"They gave me this locket when I turned eighteen. I was so devastated when I lost it." Hermione sniffed and looked up at Severus again. "Thank you so much. This means so much to me."

Hermione undid the clasp and put the necklace around her neck, securing it and placing her hand over the locket where it rested on her chest. She looked back up at Severus and hugged him, resting her head on his chest.

"Look up," Severus said after a moment. Hermione smiled as she did.

"More mistletoe," she said softly. Severus leaned down and kissed her, tasting the salt from her tears on her lips.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered, tightening her grip around Severus and leaning into him again.

"Merry Christmas, Hermione."


End file.
